Chris Lombardi puts defense and security under the spotlight, as he shares his takes on recent NATO and EU cooperation and provides insight into the company’s own long-term strategic partnerships in Europe.

Three trends are currently driving the global electricity sector: decarbonization, decentralization and differentiation. Utilities are making significant contributions to mitigate carbon emissions, while a technology revolution is …

Probe into accounts promises to be embarrassing

The European Commission’s accounts for 1996 have not yet been signed off, but the institution is already coming under renewed parliamentary scrutiny over the way it managed taxpayers’ money the following year.

The 1997 exercise is unlikely to provoke the same political storm as that which has engulfed the Commission in recent month and which led to the damaging censure vote by MEPs in January.

But it will provoke its share of embarrassing criticism, placing further pressure on the Commission to put its house in order.

Senior Dutch Liberal MEP Laurens Brinkhorst, who will prepare the parliamentary report on the 1997 budget ‘discharge’, is determined to complete the process by May, before the following month’s Euro-elections.

“It will strengthen the hand of the Parliament before it is dissolved to have a clear position on what is wrong and what should be improved to consolidate a new administrative culture. And, despite all the criticism, we should not destroy the Commission as an institution. As Europe grows, we need a stronger Commission,” he explains.

In addition to the traditional areas of Phare and Tacis aid to central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, the 1997 discharge exercise is expected to concentrate specifically on EU financing for educational and research programmes. Both areas come under the direct responsibility of the former French Prime Minister Edith Cresson, who is already under attack for her individualistic management style.

Externally, particular attention is expected to be given to EU aid to Palestinian projects, due to the strong suspicion held by some MEPs that money is not being used for the purposes for which it was intended.

But Brinkhorst also intends to tackle broader conceptual issues, rather than simply concentrate on specific policy areas. This will involve trying to improve the way national authorities administer the 85% of Union funding which is spent by member states.

A particularly high priority is being given to taking a detailed look at the Commission’s staffing policy and the relationship between its officials and the technical assistance offices (TAO) which help it manage EU programmes.

“This is at the heart of a lot of the problems we have seen and so some things require structural change. The Commission has a lack of staff. If it gives outside organisations too much discretion, then the public administration is not well served. But if these bodies only execute projects, then they are doing little more than manual labour,” explains Brinkhorst.

The Liberal MEP is looking for a clear set of rules to resolve such problems, which are, for instance, seen as largely responsible for the present problems in the Leonardo vocational training programme.

At the same time as MEPs examine the way EU funds were spent in 1997, they will also have to consider what final verdict to give on the management of the previous year’s budget. In one way or another, the 1996 accounts have to be closed before the 1997 exercise can be completed.

How this will be done will largely depend on the outcome of the investigation currently being carried out by the small committee of ‘wise men’ which is looking into the many allegations swirling around the Commission.

But Brinkhorst is keen to see the 1997 discharge procedure treated separately on its merits.

The choice of the Dutch MEP as rapporteur for the politically sensitive task of assessing how the Commission managed the 1997 budget has, however, raised eyebrows in some quarters.

A former director-general in the Commission before becoming an MEP, he is expected to return to the institution when his parliamentary mandate ends in June.

Some fear that this might result in a conflict of interest and lead to him pulling his punches. Brinkhorst emphatically denies this. Moreover, he has made no secret of his likely career move. He has raised it with his colleagues on the budgetary control committee and in the Liberal Group, and been given a full vote of confidence.